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JONATHAN HAGAR 



THE FOUNDER OF HAGERSTOWN. 



A PAPER 



READ BEFORE 



The Socielj fof Itie Hislory of the Gefinaos in Mafflaod, 



March 1886. 



BASIL SOLLERS. 



THEO. KROH & SONS, PRINTERS, BALTIMORE. 



1888. 






In Exchange 
Duke University 
JUL 1 2 1933 



JONATHAN HAGAR, 



lURiXG the fii'st quarter of the eighteenth century, the Mo- 
' ^ nocacy river was the extreme boundary of civilization in 
^laryUintl. Westward extended the original wilderness, 
utilized only by tiie Indians and the white trappers and hunters. 
When tlie llrst tracts of land in this region were patented, the 
patentees were tliought to have committed great folly, since the 
land would not repay the purchase money and the quit rents for 
many generations. In this the wiseacres were wrong, however, 
since the population increased to such an extent in fifty years, 
that in 1770 a new county was formed composed entirely of what 
had been original wilderness in the first quarter of the century. 
The following very liberal proposals by Charles, Lord Baltimore, 
published ]\larch 2nd, lTo'-2, probably set the current in motion. 

" Wee, being desirous to increase the number of honest jieople 
within our province of ^laryland, and willing to give suitable 
encouragement to such to come and reside therein, do offer the 
following terms : 

" 1st. That any person having a family, who shall within 
three years come and actually settle, with his or her family, on 
any of the back lands on the northern or western boundarys of 
our said province, not already taken up, between the rivers Poto- 
mack and Susquehanna, where, we are informed, there are several 
large bodies of fertile lands, fit for tillage, which may be seen 
without any expence, two hundred acres of the said lands, in fee- 
simple, without paying any part of the forty shillings sterling, 
for every hundred acres, payable to us by the conditions of plan- 
tations, and without paying any quit rents in three years after 
the first settlement, and then paying four shillings sterling for 
every hundred of acres, to us, or our heirs, for every year after 
the expiration of the said three years. 



— 2 • — 

"2iul. To allow to etich single person, male or female, not 
above the age of thirty, and not under fifteen, one hundred acres 
of the said lands, npon the same terms as mentioned in the pre- 
ceding article. 

" 3rd.- That we will concur in any reasonable method that 
shall be proposed for the ease of snch new-comers, in the pay- 
ment of their taxes for some years ; and we doe assure all such 
that they shall be as well secured in their liberty and property, 
in Maryland, as any of his majesty's subjects in any part of the 
British plantations, in America, without exception ; and to the 
end all persons desirous to come into and reside in Maryland, 
may be assured that these terms will be justly and punctually 
performed on our part. Wee have hereunto sett our hand and 
seal at arms," etc. 

"The richness of the soil, and salubrity of the air," says 
Mr. Eddis, "operated, however, very powerfully to promote popu- 
lation ; but what chiefly tended to the advancement of settlements 
in this remote district, was the arrival of many emigrants from the 
Palatinate, and other Germanic States. These people, who from 
their earliest days, had been disciplined in habits of industry, 
sobriety, frugality, and patience, were peculiarly fitted for the la- 
borious occupations of felling timber, clearing land, and forming 
the first improvements ; and the success which attended their 
efforts, induced jnultitudes of their enterprising countrymen to 
abandon their native homes, to enjoy the plenteous harvest which 
appeared to await their labors in the wild, uncultivated wastes of 
America." 

Mr. AVm. Eddis, from whose " Letters from America," the 
above extract is taken, came to the province of IMaryland in 17C0, 
to fill an office in the gift of Governor Eden. By the law of the 
province it was necessary that he reside here three years before 
taking office. He spent a portion of these years in traveling in 
various parts of the country. His letters Avritten to friends in 
England, and published in London, 1792, long after his return to 
that country, give us a most interesting and authentic account of 
the province at the period of his residence here from 17G9 to 1776. 
After describing Frederick as observed in his travels west, he 
says, "About thirty miles west of Frederick-town, I passed 
^hrough a settlement which is making quick advances to perfec- 



tioii. A German adventurer, whose name is llagar, purchased a 
considerable tract of hind in this neighborhood, and with much 
discernment and foresight, determined to give encouragement to 
traders and to erect proper habitations for the storage of goods, 
for the supply of the adjacent country. His plan succeeded ; he has 
lived to behold a multitude of inhabitants on lands, whicli he 
remembered unoccupied ; and he has seen erected in places, appro- 
priated by him for that purpose, more than an hundred comfort- 
able edifices, to which the name of Hagar's Town is given, in 
honor of the intelligent founder." This passage was my first in- 
troduction to Mr. Hagar, which resulted in the publication of a 
short article in "The Tutor" some years ago in which I brought 
together a few facts relating to him. Doubtless it was owing to 
this article that I was honored by a request to read a paper be- 
fore you to-night. In doing so, I must beg you to remember that 
the material at my command is necessarily scanty, in isolated and 
widely scattered fragments, which can only be gathered by much 
patient labor, and often only by accident. There was during Mr. 
Ilagar's life but one paper published in the province and that 
was engaged in the dissemination of foreign news more than in 
the recording of local affairs. Such facts as I have been able to 
gather I shall now lay before you, dwelling more at length upon 
those which appear to me to possess the most general interest, or 
to need explanation. 

Jonathan Hagar Avas born, if his age at the time of his de- 
cease is correctly given, in the year 1714. He obtained a patent 
for two hundred acres of land, Dec. IGth, 1739, which he named 
"Hagar's Choice," in what is now Washington, then a part of 
Prince George's, afterward a part of Frederick County. He prob- 
ably resided there prior to that date, since "a bounded white-oak 
standing on the side of a hill within fifty yards of said Hagar's 
dwelling-house," is mentioned in his boundary lines. 

In 1740, he married Elizabeth Kershner, or Grischner. April 
21st, 1752, his daughter liosina w'as born, and Dec. i:5th, 1705, 
his son Jonathan. 

In 1753, he obtained a patent for 1780 acres of land, and 
named it "Ilagar's Delight," the difference in size making the 
difference between his choice and his delight, I suppose. In 1762, 
he obtained "Stony Batter," one hundred and eighteen acres, and 



— 4 — 

"Exchano'e," twenty-four acres; in 17G3, "BrightwelTs Choice," 
fifty acres, " Addition to Stony Batter," eighty acres, and "Found 
it out," sixty-two acres; in 1705, "New Work," seven hundred 
and fourteen acres. Thus he obtained by patent eight tracts of 
land, aggregating two tliousand four Inindred and eighty-eight 
acres. 

February 11th, 1762, tlie following communication was sent 
to the " Maryland C^azette," in which it Avas inserted : 

"To the public. 

"The opening of the river Patowmack and making it passable 
for small craft, from Fort Cumberland at Wills's Creek to the 
Great Falls, will be of the greatest advantage to Virginia and 
^laryland, by facilitating commerce with the back inhabitants, 
who will not then have more than 20 miles land carriage to liar- 
bour, Avhere ships of great burthen loadannually, whereas at pres- 
ent many have 150; and what will perhaps be considered of still 
greater importance, is the easy communication it will afford with 
the waters of the Ohio. 

"The whole land carriage from Alexandria or George Town 
will then be short of 90 miles; whereas the Pennsylvanians (who 
at present monopolize the very lucrative skin and fur trades) 
from their nearest sea port have at least 300: a circumstance 
which must necessarily force that gainful trade into this channel, 
should this very useful work be affected; and that it may, is the 
unanimous opinion of the best judges, and at moderate expense 
compared with the extraordinary convenience and advantages 
which must result from it." The communication stated that 
"it is proposed to solicit the public for their contributions by 
way of subscription." Eleven managers were appointed for Vir- 
ginia and the same number for Maryland. Two of the managers, 
one from each colony, were to act as treasurers. " Some skillful 
gentlemen" had " agreed to view" the Great Falls in the spring, 
and if they should report the opening or passing of them practi- 
cable (which is now generally believed) it is proposed that what- 
ever balance remains in the Treasurers' hands after compleating 
the first design, shall be appropriated to that purpose." 

In the " Maryland Gazette," June 10th, 1762, "The mana- 
gers have now the pleasure to inform the public, that sub- 
scriptions are filling very fast, and that people in general, but 



more especially in the back countries, and those bordering upon 
Patowmack, discover so much alacrity in promoting the affair, 
that there is not the least doubt but a sum will be raised, suf- 
ficient to carry on the Avork by the day appointed for the meeting," 
'2C)th day of July next. 

I mention this enterprise at length because Jonathan Hagar 
Avas one of the managers for Maryland, and laid out in the same 
3'ear a town on land belonging to him, which he named Elizabeth 
town, after his wife. Thomas Cresap, also one of the managers, 
advertised lots at Oldtown, "one hundred lots or thereabout" 
were to be laid out contiguous to Frederick Town, on land belong- 
ing to Daniel Dulany, and lots were for sale at Fort Cumberland. 
There was a general movement looking to the opening up of the 
back country, the establishment of towns for commercial pur- 
poses, and the opening of channels of communications which 
should draw to these towns the lucrative trade in furs and skins 
of the Avestern Avilderness. This movement Avas led by the great 
landholders of that region, one of Avhom Avas Jonathan Hagar. It 
Avas the beginning of the contest to secure the transportation of 
Avestern products to the seaboard ; a contest Avhich is still Avaged 
Avith the greatest bitterness, and CA'ery moA^ement in Avhich is 
Avatched Avith the most lively interest, Jonathan Hagar Avas not 
the least successful among the many competitors for the stream 
of emigration floAving into those parts, for his town, as Ave have 
seen, consisted in 1770 of "more than an hundred comfortable 
edifices." 

In 1771, Mr. Hagar, or C'apt. Hagar as he is sometimes called, 
A\ as elected a delegate to the General Assembly of the province. 
He had been naturalized in 1717, and, as his legislative career 
tlirows considerable light upon the status of a naturalized subject 
in the first three quarters of the eighteenth century, I shall dis- 
cuss it as fully as my information Avill alloAv, 

In the J>,0Aver House of Assembly, convened by Robert Eden, 
Ei(\., Governor, Oct. 2d, 1771, the committee on elections and 
privileges reported, among other things, Oct. 5th,, " That Messrs. 
Jonathan Hagar, William Luckett, Charles Beatty, and Thomas 
Sprigg Woottan, delegates for Frederick County, are duly re- 
turned," and further, " Your committee beg leaA'e to report to the 
Honorable House, that they are informed and believe, that Mr. 



Jonathan Ilagar, a member returned for Frederick County, is not 
a natural born subject, that he came into America, and was natu- 
ralized some time before the said election." After the report of 
the committee had been read a second time, it was resolved, " That 
this House will, on Tuesday next, at the sitting of the House, take 
into consideration that part of the said report relative to Mr. 
Jonathan Hagar." On Tuesday, Oct. 8th, " The House proceeded 
to take the same into consideration, and permitted Mr. Hagar, on 
his prayer to be heard by counsel. The counsel appeared, and 
being heard, he withdrew." On motions to that effect, the following 
British Statutes, Provincial Act and Resolves were read, viz.: 12 
and 13 W. Ill, c. 2; 1 Geo. I, c. 4; Act of Assembly of 1716, 
Chap. XI; 13 Geo. II, c. 7; Resolves of the Lower House of As- 
sembly of Oct. 18th, 1753, and 22 Geo. II, c. 45. "Then the 
House took the several Statutes, the Act of Assembly and the Re- 
solves above mentioned into consideration ; and after some debate 
thereon, Mr. Hagar withdiew, and Mr. Speaker, by the direction 
of the House, put the following question : "That Jonathan Hagar. 
returned as a representative for Frederick County, not being a 
natural born subject, nor descended from a natural born subject, 
but naturalized in the year 1747, since the Stat, of 13 Geo. II, 
agreeable to said Stat., long before said election ; hath been a re- 
sident of this province ever since, and hath a freehold of lifty 
acres of land, be eligible?" Resolved in the negative. 

" In consequence of the aforegoing Resolution, Mr. Hagar was 
called in, and Mr. Speaker, by the direction of the House, ac- 
quaints him that he is discharged from any further attendance 
on this House as a member thereof." 

The vote stood twenty-four in the negative to twenty-three 
in the affirmative in a House comj)osed of fifty-eight members, 
thirty from the Western and twenty-eight from the Eastern Shore. 
Tliree members were absent or did not vote from the Western 
Shore, and eight from the Eastern. The voting members of the 
Western Shore where Mr. Hagar was best known, stood fifteen to 
twelve in favor of his eligibility, and the voting members of the 
Eastern Shore stood twelve to eight against it. On the affirma- 
tive we find the names of Thomas Johnson who in 1775 nominated 
George Washington as Commander-in-chief of the Continental 
Army, and in 1777 became the first Governor of the State of 



Maryland; of Win. Paca, signer of the Declaration and third 
Governor; and of Wni. Smallwood Avho distinguished himself as 
a General in the Kevolutionary war, and became fourth Governor 
of the State. The most distinguished name on the negative is 
that of Samuel Chase, in after years judge of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

An examination of the law in the order in which it was read 
before the House in their deliberation on Mr. Hagar's case, aside 
from its bearing on the legal status of a naturalized subject in 
1771, shows conclusively, that the contest was between the pro- 
gressive spirits and the conservative; for the law was against Mr. 
Hagar's eligibility. 

The Statute of 12 and 13 W. Ill, Cap. 2, entitled "An Act 
for the further Limitation of the Crown, and better securing the 
rights and liberties of the subject," provided in 1700 that "after 
His ]\[ajesty, and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and in default 
of issue of the said Princess Anne and His Majesty respectively, 
ihe Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess 
Dowager of Hanover" be the next in succession to the Crown ; 
and among otiier things, "that after the said limitation shall 
take effect as aforesaid, no person born out of the kingdoms of 
England, Scotland or Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belong- 
ing (although he be naturalized or made a denizen, except such 
as born of English parents) shall be capable to be of the Privy 
Council, or a member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy 
any office, or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have 
any grant of lands, tenements, or hereditaments from the Crown, 
to himself or to any other or others in trust for him." Stat. 1 
Geo. I, Cap. 4, 1714, explains that the provisions of the above act 
were not intended to apply to any person who was naturalized at or 
befjre His Majesty's accession to the Crown, but "for the better 
jn-eserving the said recited clause entire and inviolable" directs 
that in all future bills for naturalization the above shallbe inserted. 

The Act of the Maryland Assembly of 17Ui, Chap. XI, di- 
recting the manner of electing delegates, &.e., says in the pre- 
amljle, " the safest and best rule for this province to follow in 
electing such delegates and representatives is the precedents of 
the proceedings in Parliament in Great Britain, as near as the 
constitution of this province will admit." After directing the 



— 8 — 

manner of electing delegates iu Sec. 2, and compelling attendance 
in Sec. 3, the act provides in Sec. 4, " That no ordinary keeper 
■within this province, during the time of his ordinary keeping, or 
any other person disabled by any laws of England from sitting in 
Pai'liament shall be elected, chosen or serve as a deputy or repre- 
sentative in the said General Assembly, so to be hereafter called, 
convened and appointed, as aforesaid." This was the law as it 
stood in 1771. 

Stat. 13 Cieo. II, Cap. 7, 1740, was the law under which 
.Mr. llagar was naturalized, and not as stated by Mr. Scharf 
(Hist. ]\Id., Vol. II, p. 15G, note) by the General Assembly. The 
preamble states that "many foreigners and strangers from the 
lenity of our Government, the purity of our religion, the benefit 
of our laws, the advantages of our trade, and the security of our 
property, miglit be induced to come and settle in some of Ilis 
Majesty's colonies in America, if they were made partakers of the 
advantages and privileges which the natural born subjects of this 
realm do enjoy;" and it is enacted "that from and after the first 
day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and forty, all persons born out of the legiance of His Majesty, 
his heirs or successors, who have inhabited and resided, or shall 
inhabit or reside for the space of seven years or more, in any of 
His Majesty's colonies in America, and shall not have been ab- 
sent out of some of the said colonies for a longer space than two 
months at any one time during the said seven j-ears, and shall 
take, make and subscribe" various oaths, declarations and pro- 
fessions of faith established by law for the security of the throne 
and the protestant religion, "before the chief judge or other 
judge of the colony wherein such persons respectively have so in- 
habited and resided, shall be deemed, adjudged and taken to be 
His Majesty's natural born subjects of this kingdom, to all in- 
tents, constructions and purposes, as if they and every of them 
had been or were born Avithin this kingdom." Every judge was 
required upon the taking the oath, &c., " in open court between 
the hours of nine and twelve in the forenoon" "to make a due 
and proper entry thereof in a book to be kept for that purpose in 
the said court," and the secretary of the colony was directed to 
make a simihir enti-y in a book for the purpose in his office. A 
certificate under the seal of the colony was then given to the pei'- 
son naturalized, " which shall be deemed and taken to be a suf- 



ficient testimony and proof thereof, and of his being a natural 
born subject of Great Britain, to all intents and purposes what- 
ever, and as such shall be allowed in every court within the king- 
doms of Great Britain and Ireland, and alsu in the said colonies 
in America." The ample rights conferred by naturalization un- 
der this act were however jnaterially efl'ected by two provisos, 
iirst, that no person, except a Quaker or a Jew, should be natu- 
ralized "unless such person shall have received the sacrament of 
the Lord's supper in some protestant and reformed congregation," 
in Great Britain or the colonies, within three months next before 
taking the required oaths, &c. ; second, that no person so natu- 
ralized shall be of the Privy Council, or a member of either House 
of Parliament, &.c. 

A portion of the Ivesolves of the Lower House, Oct. 18th, 1753, 
reads " liesolved also unanimously, That all the Statutes of Eng- 
land, made for the security, confirmation or advancement of the 
rights, liberties and privileges of the British subjects, for the pre- 
vention or detection of bribery and corruption, and the main- 
tenance and preservation of freedom in elections, the direction 
and regulation of returning officers, except in such cases wherein 
sufficient provision hath been or shall be established by Acts of 
Assembly, have the force of laws within this province, and as 
such ought qniformly and inviolably to be received and observed." 

Stat, of 22 Geo. II., cap. 45, 17-19, provided for the naturali- 
zation of foreigners who should serve on board English vessels 
engaged in the Avhale fisheries, and has for our purposes no inter- 
est except the provision that such naturalized subjects shall not 
be of the I'rivy Council, members of either House of Parlia- 
ment, etc. 

We have thus seen that laws of England passed in 1700 and 
1714, before the election law of Maryland, as well as those passed 
in 1740 and 1749, all declared the ineligibility of naturalized 
subjects to seats in parliament; that the ^Maryland Act modeled 
the House of Delegates of the colony on the House of Commons 
of Great Britain, and made ineligible to it, all who Avere by Eng- 
lish law ineligible to parliament; that tlie Resolves of 1753, de- 
clared all these British Statutes to be in force in Maryland ; and 
yet Mr. Hagar lost his seat by a single vote. 

But the House of Delegates did not let the matter rest here. 



— 10 — 

The law as it stood did not allow Mr. Hagar a seat, and the 
House proceeded to change the operation of the English laws by- 
passing a provincial law covering the ground, and thereby super- 
seding them so far as they affected the right of a naturalized citizen 
to a seat in the House. This was done so expeditiously that it 
not only prevented similar injustice to other naturalized subjects, 
but enabled Mr. Hagar to take his seat before the close of the 
session. 

Mr. Hagar was rejected Oct. 8th. Oct. 9th an order was 
passed for the issue of a new writ of election to the sheriflf of 
Frederick County "to elect a delegate to serve in this present 
session of Assembly, in the stead of Mr. Jonathan Hagar, whose 
seat is declared vacant." A committee was granted leave to 
bring in a bill "for vesting in such foreign protestants as are now 
naturalized or shall be hereafter naturalized in this province, all 
the rights and privileges of natural born subjects." Mr. Hagar's 
colleagues from Frederick Co., and two others of the minority, 
Avith Mr. Chase of the majority in the vote of rejection, were placed 
on the committee. The bill was brought in and read the first time 
Oct. 11th, the second time Saturday, Oct. 12th, sent to the Upper 
House Monday, Oct. 14th, and returned on the same day en- 
dorsed, "Read the first and second time by a special order, and 
will pass." Oct. 16th, "Mr. Speaker left the chair, and (with 
the members of this House) went to the Upper House, and there 
presented to his Excellency" the above bill and another for the 
adjournment and continuance of the High Court of Appeals. 
"Both which his Excellency passed into laws in the usual man- 
ner" "by sealing it with the Right Honorable the Lord Proprie- 
tary his Great Seal at Arms and subscribing it on behalf of the 
Right Honorable the Lord Proprietary of this Province 1 will 
this be a Law." 

Thus in eight days from the declaration of his ineligibility 
Mr. Hagar was rendered eligible, for the new act conferred all 
the rights and privileges of natural born subjects without the ob- 
noxious proviso of the English law. 

Nov. Ifith, Mr. Hagar, having been re-elected, qualified and 
took his seat to serve in his own stead, in time to vote in favor of 
that famous address to Governor Eden, protesting against his at- 
tempt to fix the fees of officers by proclamation, a subject which 



— 11 — 

agitated the minds of the good people of Maryland until the open- 
ing scenes in the revolutionary drama distracted attention from 
all minor matters. 

The act which gave Mr. llagar his seat reads: "Whereas 
many foreign protestants have already settled in this province, and 
others from the lenity of our government, the purity of our religion, 
and the benefit of our laws, may be hereafter induced to settle there- 
in, if they were made partakers of the advantages and privileges 
which natural born subjects enjoy: 

Be it therefore enacted by, etc.. That all such foreign prot- 
estants who have been already naturalized in this province pur- 
suant to the directions of the 8tat." 1.3 Geo. II., cap. 7 — before 
quoted as that under which Mr, Hagar was naturalized — "and 
all foreign protestants who shall be hereafter naturalized in this 
province pursuant to the directions of the said statute, shall be 
deemed, adjudged and taken, to be natural born subjects, to all 
intents, constructions and purposes as if they, and every of 
them, had been born within the kingdoms of Great Britain or 
Ireland, or within any other of his majesty's dominions, any law 
to the contrary in anywise notwithstanding." 

Mr. Hagar was re-elected a delegate to the Assembly of 1773. 
The committee on elections and privileges again reported, 
June 26th, that Jonathan Hagar was not a natural born subject, 
"and is the same person who was returned a Delegate for Freder- 
ick County to the late General Assembly, October Session, 1771, 
and by the late lower House voted and declared lo be ineligible 
for that cause." Frederick, the last Lord Baltimore, died 
Sept. 14th, 1771, and as the legislature which passed the act of 
1771 Avas called Oct. 2d, in his name and by his authority, doubts 
were entertained as to the validity of the laws passed by it. In 
case the laws Avere not valid, Mr. Hagar Avas still ineligible, until 
they had been made valid by a new act confirming them. Here 
Avas a new difficulty, but the House made (juick Avork Avith it. 
The report Avas read and they concurred thcreAvith, except that 
part relative to Mr. Jonathan Hagar. 

"Ordered, That that part be referred for consideration on 
the third day of the next session of Assembly. Ordered, That 
the clerk of this House give Mr. Hagar notice thereof." 

Mr. Hagar continued a member of the House to the end of 



— 12 — 

the session, though he had leave of absence from June 24th to 
July 3d. His name is found with the majority in several di- 
visions, and he was placed on several committees. 

" Both the Jonathan Hagars," says 31 r. Scharf, "father and 
son, were very popular with the citizens of Hagerstown, and en- 
joyed almost unbounded influence. The elder Hagar Avas acci- 
dently killed on Nov. Gth, 1775, in his sixty-flrst year, at a saw- 
mill near Hagar's mill by a large piece of timber rolling upon 
and crushing him. The timber was being sawed for the Ger- 
man lieformed Church, which Mr. Ilagar was very active in 
building." In ''an act for the benefit of the vestry of the Ger- 
man Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in and about Elizabeth 
Town, at St. John's Church, in "Washington County," we learn 
that Jonathan Ilagar conveyed three lots of ground, to wit:- lots 
number 131, 132 and 221, situated in said county, containing 
half an acre each, to certain trustees in trust for the Lutheran 
congregation of Elizabeth Town. These lots are not found on 
the original plat, and must have been part of an addition to the 
town made at a later date. Mr. Hagar's religious faith is best 
shown by the quotation of a passage in his family Bible, the 
translation of which from the German is found in a note, 
page lOGO, Scharf's Western Maryland. Speaking of his wife, 
he says: "We lived together until the iGth of April, 1T65. Then 
it pleased the Lord to call her, after severe suffering, out of this 
Avorld. ' What God does is well done.' Her funeral text is re- 
corded in 2 Tim. i, 12. The hymn was sung, 'Lord Jesus Christ, 
true man and God,' also the hymn, ' Think ye children of men, 
on the last day of life.' 0, my child, lay rightly to heart the 
words of this hymn, and do right and fear God, and keep His 
commandments. And if you have anything, do not forget the 
poor, and do not exalt yourself in pride and haughtiness above 
your fellow-men. For you are not better than the humblest be- 
fore God's eyes, and perhaps not as good. And so, if you have 
no fear of God within you, all is vain. My child, keep this in re- 
membrance of your father, and live according to it, and it will go 
well Avith you here Avhile you live, and there eternally." 

Mr. Ilagar intended that the town he had founded should 
bear the name of Elizabeth-ToAvn, in honor of his beloA'ed Avife, 
but by the operation of the law of the su^-vival of the fittest, it 



— r.\ — 

was destined to cominemoratc its founder. The public were bet- 
ter acquainted with Jonathan Ilagar and his work, than with 
Elizabeth, his wife. To many it was always Hagar's town. In- 
deed before the toAvn avus in existance so well was Mr. Ilagar 
known that neighboring farms were located as "near Capt. Hagar's 
in Frederick County." Others gave it its legal name. Even in 
the laws it is mentioned indifferently as Elizabeth-Town and 
Hagar's Town after 1802. This "struggle forexistance" between 
two names has interested me much. In 1770, Eddis says the 
name of Hagar's Town is given to it "in honour of the intelligent 
founder." A letter froni a school boy to his father, Capt. AVm. 
Heyser, at the American Camp, Philadelphia, is dated "Hagar's 
ToAvn, Oct. 12th, 1776," Hart and Rochester advertise "nails, 
brads and sprigs of their own manufacturing in Hager's-Town," 
over date "Hager's-Town, August 20th, 171)0." The "Washing- 
ton Spy," of January 1st, 1790, is printed by Stewart Herbert 
"Elizabeth (Hager's) Town," — that is, Elizabeth-Town, or if you 
like it better Hager's Town. In the laws we find "an act to es- 
tablish a market-house in Elizabeth-Town," in 1783; Commis- 
sioners of Elizabeth-Town were appointed and incorporated as 
such in 1701. The laws further mention it as Elizabeth-Town 
in 1702, 1703 and 1704. An issue of the "'Herald and Advertiser" 
is dated "Elizabeth (Hager's) Town (^laryland), Wednesday, 
:\[arch 31st, 1802." Two laws mention Elizabeth-Town in 1802^ 
and in 1804 one mentions Hager's-Town, which is the first recog- 
nition of this name in the laws. In 1807 it is twice called Eliza- 
beth-Town and twice Hager's-Town, and the "Hager's-Town 
Bank at Elizabeth-Town" is established. In the "Description of 
the States of ^Maryland and Delaware, by Joseph Scott, Phila- 
delphia, 1807," he says, "Elizabeth-town, commonly called Ilagers- 
town, a handsome and Nourishing town, and the capitol of the 
county. It is situated near Anti-Etam creek and 71 miles from 
Baltimore, and contains about 300 houses, a court house, jail, 
market house, school house, and four churches, viz.: one for 
German Lutherans, one for German Calvinists, one for Episcopa- 
lians, and one for Eoman Catholics. The town has a great num- 
ber of clock and watch makers, blacksmiths, coppersmiths, gun 
and lock smiths, hatters, tanners, boot and shoemakers, saddlers, 
Aveavers, dyers, potters, coachmakers, and taylora ; also a rope 
and nail manufactory.". 



— u — 

The laws mention in 1808 Elizabeth-Town twice, in 1810 
Hager's-Town, in 1811 Elizabeth-Town, and Ilager's-Town twice, 
and in 1812 Hager's-town. In 1813, the name was changed from 
Elizabeth-Town to Hager's-Town by act of the legislature, though 
the first mention of the name in its present form, Hagerstown, 
which I have been able to find in the laws, is in 1829. 

Thus the justice of the people has proved in this case stronger 
than the affectionate desire of the founder, and legislative enact- 
ments. The fittest name has survived. Long may "Hagar's 
Town" flourish in honour and prosperity, a living memorial of 
" its intelligent founder." 



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